Saturday, October 30, 2010

Can you believe it's nearly Halloween? Where has the time gone to? I'd actually hoped to share a bunch of fun cupcake ideas with you all month long, but health issues and homework ended up getting the best of me. What can I say but...I'm only human after all 8). I did at least manage to churn out these fantastically creepy bloody rat cupcakes for P's Halloween party at work. I couldn't attend, but he told me they were a hit.

It's the first time I've filled cupcakes simply with jam, and I quite enjoyed the taste. The "bloody" color and oozy consistency also make any red berry jam or preserve a good topping for this time of year. To be frank, these chocolate strawberry rats take a bit of time and effort to make. So I really didn't have the time/patience left to mix up a frosting anyway ;p.

It takes a few tries to get used to the rat-assembly procedure, so don't worry if you feel clumsy at first. I was impressed with the results, both the appearance -- I certainly had never associated strawberries with rats before! -- and the taste -- chocolate-coated things are generally yummy.

Of course I do realize I'm posting this the day before Halloween (my bad!), and some of these ingredients may take time to track down. If you're looking for some equally impressive Halloween cupcakes with only easy-to-find ingredients, be sure to check out the creepy crawly, mummy, and owl cupcakes from my previous posts.

So do you have big plans for this Sunday? I'd love to hear all about your creative costumes and treats. Happy early Halloween, everyone!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line a muffin pan with baking liners.

Whisk together the soy milk and vinegar in a large bowl, and set aside for a few minutes to curdle. Add the sugar, oil, vanilla extract, and almond extract, if using, to the soy milk mixture and beat until foamy. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add in two batches to wet ingredients and beat until no large lumps remain (a few tiny lumps are OK).

Fill liners 3/4 full with batter. Bake 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool completely.

Stir berry jam well, and heat in the microwave for 5 to 10 seconds. Transfer jam to a piping bag fitted with a long pointed tip OR a squeeze bottle. Insert tip into each cupcake and squeeze out a small amount of jam into the cupcake. Then pull the tip out of the frosting and squeeze a little more on top of the cupcake in several (bloody XD) blobs. Place a strawberry chocolate rat on top of each cupcake. Insert one end of a 4-inch piece of black licorice into the cupcake directly behind the rat, then insert the other end into the cupcake on one side of the rat. Lastly and most importantly, enjoy sharing your creepy creations!

Place chocolate wafer cookies in a food processor fitted with steel blade, and process until cookies are finely ground. Transfer crumbs to a small bowl and set aside.

Line a cookie sheet with parchment or wax paper. Trim a small piece from one side of each strawberry so they can rest horizontally on the paper. Insert 2 sliced almonds -- about 1 inch from pointed end of strawberry and about 1 inch apart -- to make the ears of the rat.

Place chocolate chips into a heatproof bowl, and microwave for 30-second intervals, stirring well after each interval, until the chocolate is completely smooth. Be careful not to burn the chocolate! Stir in the shortening and mix until smooth.

Insert a fork into the large end of a strawberry (Angle the fork upwards into the strawberry so it won't slip off when you're tapping the fork later.). Holding strawberry on the fork over the bowl of melted chocolate, spoon chocolate over strawberry to coat. Allow excess chocolate to drip off, tapping fork lightly. Sprinkle with chocolate wafer cookies crumbs to coat. Tap fork lightly again to remove excess crumbs. While still holding the strawberry up on the fork, add red/yellow candies for the eyes, slivered almonds for the teeth, and brown candies for the nose. Use another fork or spoon to transfer strawberry to prepared cookie sheet. Repeat with the remaining 11 strawberries. If the chocolate starts to solidify as you're working with it, you can microwave it again at 10-second intervals until it softens again. Refrigerate (or freeze at least 5 minutes if you're in a hurry to use them) rats until ready to serve.

Haha, yea it did feel kinda weird biting into it but then I was hit by the deliciousness of chocolate-covered strawberry so I stopped thinking about the look 8). I actually ended up buying the candy-coated sunflower seeds online at www.ohnuts.com. I think some health food/vegan stores also carry them but I don't have a car and wanted to know they'd arrive on time.

Brittany - what a great compliment. thx!Trissa - haha yea I wouldn't want to see any real rats either. these are delicious though.Just Cake Girl - haha but they're sooooo tasty. they're really not so scary in person 8D.elra - thanks so much!Rosa - Happy Halloween to you too!Spoon and Chopsticks - I hope you give them a try as they're quite good :).Angie - XD.Danielle - The rats were basically taken from Redbook so I can't take credit for the idea, but glad you like them.warmvanillasugar - Awesome compliment. I really appreciate it!Peggy - haha I'm so glad someone thinks they're cute rather than creepy :).oneordinaryday said... 13Michelle - Isn't it a great idea? Gotta give it to Karen Tack.El - thx!WizzyTheStick - aw that's a bummer. it's my favorite holiday.Kulsum - it really does taste wonderful. hope you'll give them a try :).Soma - They're from ohnuts.com though you may be able to find them at a health food or vegan foods store.Anncoo - you too!Pavithra - glad you enjoy it :).Joanne - thanks, girl.Hannah - Happy Halloween to you too!Yue - haha that's very alliterative. have a great one!sinfullyspicy - very very yummy XD.

crustabakes - glad you enjoy the cupcakes and photos :).Chocolate Shavings - you're so sweet thx!lacasitainspirada - let me know what you come up with :).pigpigscorner - you'd be missing out cause they're super tasty :).bakeolicious - thanks for the invitation. I submitted this post!Sara - thanks they were really fun.Kris - haha thx Kris. I love how the reactions from everyone have either been grooooss or cuuuute ;).chocolatecup - haha glad to hear it, boo!briarrose - XD.Shirley - the only time of year I'd want to hear my food gives people the creeps hehe.noobcook - oh wow a rodent lover, eh? apparently in the minority among my readers.Eliana - yay! thanks for stopping by, girl.

I can't really think of a word to describe these since calling rats "adorable" just seems wrong to me but they look fantastic! I'm so impressed! I fill chocolate birthday cakes with jam all the time. Don't know why I never thought of doing it with cupcakes!

Wow, those are amazing. Creepy and horrifying but amazing... and surely delicious. It kind of makes me wish Australia celebrated Halloween, but then again - I don't really need an occasion to make something like this. Terrifying rats on a cupcake are fine any day of the week!

Lorraine - haha thank ya so much!smalltownoven - then you were a step ahead of me. I'm glad you think they're somewhat "adorable" :).grace - I do love contradictions!Justin - thx!Patricia - haha I guess the creeps were the goal here.Jess - you should totally start a Halloween-celebrating trend in Australia! I'm so sad you guys don't have it. With all the great culinary and styling skills over there, I'd love to see what goodies you'd come up with.Ingrid - I think that's good. Thx, girl ;P